-
Thomas Kuhn's Birth
Thomas Kuhn was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. -
Kuhn's Lectures at Lowell Institute
In 1950, Kuhn was invited by Ralph Lowell to give a lecture the following year. This lecture detailed how knowledge was gained and documented traditionally, and compared that to a modern process. In this lecture, Kuhn explained that, while he thought science produced reasonable and solid knowledge, traditional analysis could distort how that knowledge developed. -
The Copernican Revolution
Kuhn published his book, where he discussed that science is never purely science. He talked about how all scientific advancements, theories or developments had always had either a philosophical or a religious element. He stated these elements were critical for the development of science. Due to how well received his book was, this solidified his acceptance in the historical and philosophical communities. -
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
Kuhn had finished a draft of his book in July of 1961 and later finished it for publication in 1962. He would later address critics of the book in a second edition that was published in 1970. This book essentially pushed for a shift in examining the output of scientific research, to a focus on the research before a final narrative was established. He also introduced concepts like paradigm shifts and incommensurability. -
Period: to
Kuhn’s Proposed Book
From the mid 80's to the early 90's, Kuhn was working on another book. This book was divided into three sections, each addressing their own issues. The first part went over Kuhn's issues with his incommensurability thesis. The second part, which was two chapters, addressed communities lexicons and the process in which a lexicon was acquired. The final part discussed lexicon changes and how that impacted the scientific community. Even in his final years, Kuhn still devoted himself to teaching. -
Thomas Kuhn speaking about his book "The Structure of the Scientific Revolutions"
-
Thomas Kuhn passes away.
Thomas Kuhn passed away in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
